Text Box: Interlibrary Loan for Genealogists By Kimberly Powell Kimberly's Genealogy Blog (http://genealogy.about.com/b/) Most public and academic libraries in the United States offer a great service, often overlooked by genealogists, called Interlibrary Loan (ILL). This service allows a local library to borrow a book, microfilm, or other materials that are not available locally from another participating library. Unfortunately, family histories and other specialized genealogy books are not always available through ILL because the libraries that have such books in their collections want to be sure they are available to patrons who may have traveled long distances to use them. There are, however, some libraries that will lend such family history books. In some cases such books may also be available on microfilm, and many libraries will make copies of a few select pages of local history and genealogical publications in response to ILL requests. My favorite use of interlibrary loan is to request microfilm reels of old newspapers (something often not available through the Family History Library), as well as copies of obituaries. While the majority of U.S. libraries participate in ILL, the following sources are of special interest to genealogists: The Mid-Continent Public Library in Missouri maintains Genealogy in the Heartland, an outstanding collection of over 10,000 genealogy and local history books, all of which are available free of charge to researchers nationwide through interlibrary loan. The library of the National Genealogical Society, consisting of more than 20,000 genealogy and family history books, is deposited at the St. Louis County Public Library in St. Louis, Missouri. Almost every book in this special collection is available through ILL to both NGS members and non-members. The online catalog identifies books in the NGS collection as "SLCL — NGS Collection." The U.S. Library of Congress does not permit its books on genealogy and local history to be borrowed via interlibrary loan. The Library has, however, microfilmed most of its books relating to United States genealogy published from 1876-1900, and this microfilmed material is available for loan. The Library of Congress also accepts requests from libraries outside the US. Most public libraries in the United States offer ILL services for free - the cost is absorbed as part of the library's operating budget. State, academic and historical society libraries, however, may charge patrons a fee to obtain items through ILL. To learn how interlibrary loan works at your local library, just stop in and ask! An alternative to Interlibrary Loan for both family history books, as well as microfilmed records, is the Family History Library. For just a few dollars per roll, you can request just about anything in the Family History Library Catalog and have it sent to your local Family History Center for viewing. Another great alternative for articles from local history and genealogical publications is the Allen County Public Library which allows you to directly request copies of articles from periodicals found in PERSI, a comprehensive subject index covering genealogy and local history journals and magazines written in English and French (Canada) since 1800. ************************************************************************************* The Invisible People An exhibition at the University of Pennsylvania Museum reveals that the Lenape, thought to have long vanished from the region, have been here all along. By Stephan Salisbury Inquirer Culture Writer For nearly two centuries they lived unseen, specters on the land their ancestors occupied for 10,000 years and more. They, or their forebears, had witnessed death and disease and violence, and they feared what might transpire if invisibility ceased to be a virtue. But the descendants of Pennsylvania's Lenape people, who lived throughout the region prior to the arrival of Europeans, no longer embrace anonymity. The time of their long hiding has passed. An exhibition that opened Saturday at the University of Pennsylvania Museum explores their virtually untold story of hardship and survival, the story of a vanished people who have not vanished at all. "For generations we really have lived in fear," said Robert Red Hawk Ruth, chief of the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania. "That's a bad way to live. It really infects your whole community. So we wanted to get away from that and say, 'Here's who we are, we want to share part of ourselves with you.' So it's really a catharsis for us to come out and do this." "Fulfilling a Prophecy: The Past and Present of the Lenape in Pennsylvania," an exhibition of ancient and not-so-ancient artifacts, photographs, a short film and text, will remain on view for a year. Many artifacts have never been seen by outsiders - in part because they were considered sacred (although none in the show is still in use), and in part because the Lenape did not want to reveal themselves. "I can remember my father, for example, saying 'Never advertise anything, don't tell anybody who you are,' " Ruth recalled. "That's why I say our community was living in fear - it was so ingrained. 'Just keep out. Don't go anywhere. Don't come out [of hiding].' "It was hard for me to come out. It was extremely hard. Parts of my family, they will not talk to anybody about this. And that's why it amazes me this exhibit even took place." For that, thank co-curator Abigail Seldin, a 20-year-old Penn senior and masters candidate, and the first Penn anthropology undergraduate to curate an exhibit at the museum. Seldin initially thought she would pull together an exhibition exploring the dispersal of the Lenape from the region. Following harsh encounters with European settlers beginning in the first half of the 18th century, most Lenape were driven west, eventually ending up in Ohio, Wisconsin, Oklahoma and Canada. By the beginning of the 19th century, most histories said no Lenape remained here. But when Seldin and museum officials traveled to a Lenape ceremony in the Poconos to discuss an exhibition, she found that most histories were wrong. She spoke with tribal elders. "They said, 'Yeah, well, we have a sort of hidden history,' " Seldin recalled. "The project just hit me and I had to run with it." Gaining trust over time, Seldin learned that a handful of Lenape never left the area. Often they intermarried with Europeans and African Americans, keeping Lenape culture and customs alive within the their homes, practicing traditional ceremonies out of sight. And working with American Indians - Robert Ruth and Shelley DePaul - Seldin shaped the exhibit around the Lenape "Prophecy of the Fourth Crow": Ruth interprets the prophecy as a history of the Lenape - decimated by contact with Europeans, driven into hiding and now reemerging. Long ago it was said that a fox will be loosened on the earth. Also it was said four crows will come. The first crow flew the way of harmony with Creator. The second crow tried to clean the world, but he became sick and he died. The third crow saw his dead brother and he hid. The fourth crow flew the way of harmony again with Creator. Caretakers they will live together on the earth.

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